8' x 11'1" Persian Esfahan Rug | Ivory Field with Floral Medallion | 1970s Fine Wool

This is a classic room-size Persian floor piece from the 1970s, hand-knotted in wool on a cotton foundation and drawn in the Esfahan manner: an ivory ground covered edge to edge in fine curling vinework, with a red and navy medallion holding the center. At 8' x 11'1" it covers a standard seating group with all four furniture legs on the wool, which is exactly what this scale of Persian weaving was made for. The pile is even, the drawing is crisp on both faces, and the colors have settled into the soft, slightly mellowed tone that only 50 years of honest age produces. Every rug we sell ships with a certificate of authenticity confirming origin, materials and hand-knotted construction.

Design and Motifs

The center holds an 8 petal star medallion: a navy core rosette set on a tan cartouche, wrapped in a red lobed frame, with a stepped pendant reaching toward each end of the field. Around it the ivory ground carries a continuous arabesque of thin red and blue vines that throw off palmettes, curled saz leaves, carnations and small rosettes, never quite repeating as the eye travels across it. Red corner spandrels close the field and mirror the medallion's flower work in miniature. The wide red main border runs a rhythm of large palmettes alternating with rotating blossoms, framed on both sides by navy guard bands of leaf and bud, and an outer light blue stripe of reciprocal box and cross motifs finishes the edge. This is medallion-and-corner drawing in its most disciplined form, all-over floral but strictly ordered.

Color Palette: Ivory Ground, Brick Red Border, Navy and Green Accents

The field is a warm ivory, closer to unbleached cream than to white, which keeps the rug from feeling cold in a bright room. Against it the main border reads as a soft brick red with a slight rose cast, the kind of red that sits comfortably next to natural wood and off-white walls. The medallion pairs that red with a deep midnight navy, and the guard stripes drop in a lighter cornflower blue that lifts the whole border. Through the field you find olive and sage greens in the leaves, tobacco and gold browns in the palmette centers, and small touches of pale rose, sky blue and ivory outlining that separate one motif from the next. Ten or more shades are in play, yet the result reads as a calm three-color rug from across the room and only shows its full range up close.

Esfahan Weaving and Quality

Esfahan sits in central Persia and has been a weaving capital since the Safavid court workshops of the 16th century. Its reputation rests on drawing rather than sheer knot count: a true curved line, a vine that flows rather than steps, and spandrels that resolve cleanly into the border. You can read that discipline here in the symmetry of the medallion and in how tightly the border corners turn. For collectors who want the background, our complete guide to Persian Isfahan rugs covers the workshops and what separates the grades. Woven in wool pile on a cotton foundation with a fine, tight back and a firm handle, this piece has the density to take daily traffic, and it fits the sweet spot buyers look for in 8 x 11 Persian rugs.